Much like my parents remember the day JFK was shot, I remember the day Tupac died. I grew up a hip-hop fan, and still am, and remember vividly my rapture with the Harlem-born, Los Angeles-based rapper. For me Tupac had all the qualities I still admire in poets, which have now only been transfigured on to more "respectable" literary models: defiance, brashness, charm, a temerity bordering on recklessness. So you can imagine how I felt when he was murdered in Las Vegas back in 1996.

The JDL has been "extorting money from various rap music stars via death threats," according to a report Thursday in Haaretz on the release of FBI files surrounding the unsolved 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur. The JDL is not otherwise linked to Shakur's murder in the files.

Another JDL target was rapper Eazy-E, according to the documents, which alleged that the JDL would follow-up death threats with demands for protection money.